NCAD Works 2023

From sculptures informed by the Herpes simplex virus (HSV) to automated bike retrieval systems and robust challenges around identity politics, the next generation of NCAD creatives are not holding back, as tjis year’s enf of year Grad Shows – NCAD Works 2023 – gets underway at the National College of Art and Design.

Announcing details of NCAD Works 2023, Professor Sarah Glennie, Director at the College, remarked that the designers, thinkers, playmakers and social change disruptors that emerge from art and design colleges have a vital and timely role to play in our shared task of creating a more equitable, just and sustainable society.

“This year’s graduates have woven trauma, personal heritage and questions of identity together into what can only be considered a rich, diverse, visually stunning and challenging tapestry of collected works, available for the public to view and engage with from June 9th.

Our graduates leave NCAD equipped with the creative skills and vision to continue questioning the accepted norms of how art, design and wider creative practice can happen, and I have no doubt each of them will play a role in the radical rethinking of our society that needs to take place. We don’t just say that lightly here, we show it, and we demonstrate it –through art practice, through storytelling, and by pushing the bounds of creativity year after year.”

Discussing common themes emerging from 2023 graduates, Professor Glennie commented:

 “Students are exploring issues close to their personal relationships with the world, as well as ones that resonate beyond their studio walls; they take the form of timely commentaries on health, body image, identity politics, queer theory, critiques of social media, sustainability, the circular economy and grief. The graduates have skilfully translated their craft into pieces that provoke, engage, and connect with everyone walking in off the street.”

“Across art, design and creative disciplines, students are not just tackling but providing solutions to some of the most pressing societal issues facing us today. The graduates are exploring the immigrant experience, themes of tradition, family, gender and bi-racial experience.

Many of the students are examining how humanity has altered and undermined many of the planets’ fundamental bio-systems and are creating sustainable solutions. One product design graduate has created an automated retrieval system for bikes that can be seamlessly integrated with train travel.”

Manifesting the generational trauma of Stardust

 Commenting on Conor Leech’s work, Professor Glennie says: “Conor Leech focused on his grandmother’s ongoing and effervescent fight for justice and truth as part of the ‘Justice for the 48 Committee’. His grandmother lost three of her children in the Valentine’s Day disco fire in the Stardust Nightclub in Artane in 1981. Through the use of publications, photography, and posters, Conor aims to keep this tragic story live in the minds of younger generations by enabling the voices of his family, other families, and the survivors to be heard”.

Other notable works among the student collections on display for NCAD Works 2023 include:

• ‘It’s just a cold sore’: Raising awareness about the taboo topic of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and highlighting how four out of five Irish people suffer with HSV, Ceramics and Glass student Alannah Henry creates hand-built sculptural forms that resemble herpes cells.
• ‘What does stress look like?’ and ‘what does stress feel like?’ Textile Art and Artefact student Siobhán Curtis explored these questions through the materiality of leather by using distressing processes to portray the intensity, pressure and tension experienced by the body while undergoing stress.
• By creating an automated retrieval system for bikes that can be seamlessly integrated with train travel, BA Product Design student, Lucas Stafford creates a system that is efficient, accommodating and eco-friendly, guided by principles of biomimicry, circular and regenerative design, which prioritise the use of sustainable materials, and closed-loop systems.
• MA Communication Design student Stacy Miyoung Kim aims to carve out safe and welcoming spaces that encourage openness, learning, and cultural exchange as well as highlighting diverse narratives and experiences. She explores food as a means to unearth stories of identity and belonging, particularly those of third culture individuals, immigrants, and minority groups.
• Human interaction allows us not just to survive at a basic level but to flourish. BA Jewellery & Object graduate, Leonie O’Gorman focuses her collection on everyday gestures that we sometimes take for granted but which embody this notion of connection, creating wearable objects that are ceremonial in nature.

An intrinsic part of NCAD’s focus is ensuring collaboration through learning and working with community groups, NGOs and businesses in the neighbourhood of Dublin 8.

NCAD Works 2023 is a week-long programme across the NCAD Campus from 9-16^th June, open to the public and free of charge, packed with exhibitions created and curated by graduating students, and includes a rich programme of in-person and online performances, talks and events showcasing their work. More at www.ncadworks2023.ie